Summary of the Day ✨ 5 April (05/04)
U.S. immigration authorities conducted one of the largest workplace raids in history at a Tennessee slaughterhouse, detaining nearly 100 undocumented workers, while Pakistan mourned up to 50 deaths from militant attacks targeting a political rally and the U.S. Consulate. Meanwhile, a West Virginia mining explosion claimed 29 lives, Space Shuttle Discovery launched for a resupply mission to the International Space Station, and North Korea’s controversial satellite launch prompted international condemnation.
Historical Events 📜
- 2018: Agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid a slaughterhouse in Tennessee, detaining nearly 100 undocumented Hispanic workers in one of the largest workplace raids in the history of the United States.
- 2010: Up to 50 people are killed and another 100 injured in two militant suicide bombings and attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan: the first on an Awami National Party rally in Timergara; the second on the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar.
- 2010: Twenty-nine coal miners are killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia.
- 2010: Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-131 to resupply the International Space Station.
- 2009: North Korea launches its controversial Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 satellite. The satellite passed over mainland Japan, which prompted an immediate reaction from the United Nations Security Council, as well as participating states of six-party talks.
- 2007: The cruise ship MS Sea Diamond strikes a volcanic reef near Nea Kameni and sinks the next day. Two passengers were never recovered and are presumed dead.
- 1999: Two Libyans suspected of bringing down Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 are handed over for eventual trial in the Netherlands.
- 1998: In Japan, the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge opens to traffic, becoming the longest bridge span in the world.
- 1992: Alberto Fujimori, president of Peru, dissolves the Peruvian congress by military force.
- 1992: Peace protesters Suada Dilberovic and Olga Sučić are killed on the Vrbanja Bridge in Sarajevo, becoming the first casualties of the Bosnian War.
- 1991: An ASA EMB 120 crashes in Brunswick, Georgia, killing all 23 aboard, including Sen. John Tower and astronaut Sonny Carter.
- 1991: The Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on STS-37 to deploy the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory.
- 1983: The People’s Armed Police is officially founded.
- 1977: The US Supreme Court rules that congressional legislation that diminished the size of the Sioux people’s reservation thereby destroyed the tribe’s jurisdictional authority over the area in Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip.
- 1976: In China, the April Fifth Movement leads to the Tiananmen Incident.
Famous Births 👶
- 2003: Tetairoa McMillan, American football player
- 2001: Johnny Beecher, American ice hockey player
- 2001: Felipe Peña, Argentine footballer
- 1999: Bobby Miller, American baseball player
- 1998: Nathan Broadhead, Welsh football player
- 1997: Borja Mayoral, Spanish footballer
- 1997: Dominik Mysterio, American wrestler
- 1996: Nicolas Beer, Danish race car driver
- 1996: Raouf Benguit, Algerian footballer
- 1995: Daniel Caesar, Canadian singer-songwriter
- 1995: Viliame Kikau, Fijian rugby league player
- 1995: Sei Muroya, Japanese footballer
- 1995: Gleb Rassadkin, Belarusian footballer
- 1995: Sebastian Starke Hedlund, Swedish footballer
- 1994: Mateusz Bieniek, Polish volleyball player
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2024: C. J. Snare, American musician and songwriter (born 1959)
- 2022: Nehemiah Persoff, Israeli-American actor (born 1919)
- 2022: Jimmy Wang Yu, Taiwanese actor (born 1943)
- 2021: Paul Ritter, English actor (born 1966)
- 2019: Sydney Brenner, South African biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1927)
- 2019: Wowaka, Japanese musician (born 1987)
- 2018: Isao Takahata, Japanese director (born 1935)
- 2017: Attilio Benfatto, Italian cyclist (born 1943)
- 2017: Arthur Bisguier, American chess Grandmaster (born 1929)
- 2017: Paul G. Comba, Italian-American computer scientist and astronomer (born 1926)
- 2017: Makoto Ōoka, Japanese poet and literary critic (born 1931)
- 2017: Paul O’Neill, American rock composer and producer (born 1956)
- 2017: Tim Parnell, British race car driver (born 1932)
- 2017: Memè Perlini, Italian actor and director (born 1947)
- 2017: Atanase Sciotnic, Romanian sprint canoeist (born 1942)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Christian feast day:
Agape, Chionia, and Irene - Christian feast day:
Albert of Montecorvino - Christian feast day:
Catherine of Palma - Christian feast day:
Derfel Gadarn - Christian feast day:
Æthelburh of Kent - Christian feast day:
Gerald of Sauve-Majeure - Christian feast day:
Juliana of Liège - Christian feast day:
Maria Crescentia Höss - Christian feast day:
Blessed Mariano de la Mata - Christian feast day:
Pandita Mary Ramabai (Episcopal Church (USA)) - Christian feast day:
Ruadhán of Lorrha - Christian feast day:
Vincent Ferrer - Christian feast day:
April 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Cold Food Festival, held on April 4 if it is a leap year (China); and its related observances:
- Earliest day on which Sham el-Nessim can fall, while May 9 is the latest; celebrated on Monday after the Orthodox Easter (Egypt)